Work diligently. Diligently. Work patiently and persistently. Patiently and persistently. And you're bound to be successful. Bound to be successful.

The practice of meditation is like tuning an instrument. Too tight, and the strings break. Too loose, and they won't play.

The Dhamma is not a collection of doctrinal formulas but a path leading to direct insight into the nature of reality.

When you note pain, you are not trying to make it go away. You are trying to understand its true nature.

Dependent origination is not a theory about the origin of the world but a teaching that shows how suffering originates in dependence on our own mental processes.

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

If you love someone, the greatest gift you can give them is your presence.

Peace and negativity cannot coexist just as light and darkness cannot coexist.

This very body is the Buddha. And this very earth the lotus paradise.

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

Zen proposes its solution by directly appealing to facts of personal experience and not to book-knowledge.

The basic idea of Zen is to come in touch with the inner workings of our being, and to do this in the most direct way possible, without resorting to anything external or superadded.

The nature of life is change. The nature of change is painful. The nature of pain is temporary.

The everyday practice is simply to develop complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions.

Just as parents care for their children, you should bear in mind the whole universe.

The more you suffer the deeper grows your character, and with the deepening of your character you read the more penetratingly into the secrets of life.

The practice of vipassana is the study of the self. When you study physical and mental phenomena, you are studying the truth about yourself.

If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.

The only way to fail at meditation is to stop doing it.

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.

Self-awareness is the key to freedom. The more we understand ourselves, the more we understand how to be free.

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.

Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.

Radiate boundless love towards the entire world — above, below, and across — unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.

All beings by nature are Buddha, as ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; apart from beings, no Buddha.

The only way to experience truth is to look within, to observe oneself.

Conquer anger with non-anger. Conquer evil with good. Conquer stinginess with giving. Conquer deceit with truth.

Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind.

Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already.

Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.

Each moment of mindfulness is a moment of purification.

Awareness is always with us. We don't need to create it or achieve it - we just need to recognize what's already there.